Co-Signer vs collecting rent up front

[Monica Corbett]

Hello, 

We just had a potential tenant apply and she meets all of our minimum tenant standards except she has one account which appeared to be a revolving credit that a collection agency purchased and the status is "seriously overdue." She is current on all other accounts, but there are 2 other accounts on her credit report that says closed and purchased by another lender, but I do not see them anywhere else on the credit report and they are from 2015. So we denied her due to her credit report but gave her the option of getting a co-signer. 

My question is, would you consider an out-of-state co-signer? Also, do you think I am being too cautious rejecting her based on this one account that for all I know she could be working on settling? And what about the other 2 accounts? What is the likelihood that they would try to collect after a couple years? And how would I know if she has already settled that debt or not?

She is concerned that she will not be able to come up with a so-signer and has offered to pay for a whole years lease up front. My gut says that this is a bad idea. Does anybody have any experience in collecting the rent all up front? 

Thank you.